What it means to live in a “dry” village.
Category Archive: Kivalina
Word of the Week
Pop: (pop) noun. 1. A sugary sweet carbonated beverage, soft drink. Also known as soda, coke.
Side note: I thought someone was teasing me because I was from Minnesota and we say ‘pop’, by offering me a pop…so I said “Sure, I’ll take a soda”…to later realize that in Alaska, they do indeed use ‘pop’. Home Sweet Home.
Word of the Week
Katak: (ku•tuk) verb. 1. Inupiaq word that translates to the verb fall.
Side Note: It may be for all conjugations, but the students use it with English endings if they “conjugate” it at all. “He kataked. It katak. He katak it. I katak.”
Open waters not too far from the island
What does one do with a visitor in a remote village?
Word of the Week
Chuckerator: (chuk•ə•rādər) noun. 1. When it is so cold outside that your cunnychuck can serve as a refrigerator or freezer.
Side Note: Chuckerator is just a word used by some of my coworkers, but it often results in slushy or frozen pop and can be a good place to keep extra freezer items…if you keep an eye on the temps.
Touristing Around Kivalina
When weather prevents you from starting Spring Break away on the day you had planned…
Not all villages have 3G or 4G access. Mine is one of those.
I never once questioned what life would be like to not have running water…now it’s my students’ reality.
Word of the Week
Washateria: (wäsh•ә•tir•ēә) noun. 1. The water tower in town where people can go to get their water for $0.25/5 gal.
Side Note: Because I am blessed to have running water, I’m not sure on the exact price or the operating hours, but I do know that everyone in the village has to fetch water from the washateria.
“Here comes the sun, here comes the sun…and I say, it’s all right.”
Tumbleweed Soul 